Starting Over
by reena01
Summary: Sometimes everyone needs a second chance, and sometimes it takes a crazy red head to give it to them. Sometimes it takes a brave Malfoy to admit he was wrong and try to move on with his life. Maybe, just maybe, it might actually be ok. Sometime.
1. Chapter 1

_I own nothing, I merely invited JK Rowliing's lovely characters into my head to play sometimes_.

The tall, angular blond stood waiting in a long line with hundreds of other people, he'd never felt more common in his life. But it was the first step, the first step to a fresh start and a new life, so he stood by and let the customs official's rifle through his belongings.

After the regrettable incident with Dumbledore he'd found himself on the run. He'd promised his mother that he would stay alive and stay safe. He'd stayed hidden when his father was killed and his mother was tortured because they had wanted him safe and now it was the only thing he could give them. So he ran. For all his ego and self confidence, he soon realized the world was a lot harder place without the 'Malfoy Millions' and he went to bed hungry more then once. He had resorted to working odd jobs; the sun giving him freckled skin and callused hands. He had run for years, he heard about his mother's death and the deaths of classmates on both sides of the growing conflict.

All it had taken was a brush with one former classmate who recognized him and the chase for the Malfoy heir was on. He was running for his life. It had been his cousin, Tonks, the werewolf professor and Arthur Weasley of all people who had given his this chance. Apparently there was a new Underground Railroad, helping those Voldemort was hunting find new lives in a new country and they had decided to help him.

A day and a half after leaving a cold and wet England and at least four plane rides later, he stepped off the plane- of all the crazy inventions, but muggle travel was safer and not nearly as well monitored- in Eastern Washington. Spokane, according to his plane ticket. He had no idea who would be picking him up, but it would be ok- it had to be.

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Ginny Weasley knew this one was going to be difficult. She's helped her dad hide quite a few 'refugees' over the years. She was running late, for some reason it always turned to chaos right before her shift was ready to end. She was the new kid and therefore worked the night shift and she worked weekends. She, with the Albus Dumbledore Scholarship, the desire of friends and loved ones to keep her away from Tom, and a time turned of questionable origin, had graduated from medical school just last summer. Doctor Weasley that had to be a first.

I hadn't taken long for her family to realize that Voldemort was looking for her, Tom wanted her back. She had never been one to back down from a fight, but to endanger everyone she cared about seemed so selfish. Using Hermione as a secret keeper, she'd crossed the pond and started school. She'd always had an aptitude for the sciences and even potions despite Snape so medicine was an easy choice and she did love her job.

Off to the airport, maybe a quick stop by Dutch Bros., yes, a coffee would be a good thing. Thankfully the airport was right off the freeway; she wasn't up to a huge drive this morning. Remus had mentioned she would "know him when she saw him", Tonks had just laughed and told her that he would be wearing a Hawaiian print shirt.

Damn, the sun was bright this morning.

Coffee in hand, she was ready to brave the airport. It had been a spectacular summer and while fall was beginning to make it's presence known, it was still warm and sunny. Summer always made her miss home; it was so different from England.

Well, Shoot. So her guest was probably already picking up his luggage. Thankfully there was a parking spot close by. Pulling in quickly, she headed into the small airport at a run, heading towards the baggage claim and an ungodly bright shirt at high speed.

"Well…. Malfoy… Welcome to America" Then she did the unthinkable, she smiled.

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He turned to look at the woman walking towards him, striding really. She walked like she knew where she was going and what she was doing. A quiet confidence really. Pale green scrubs and a set of sunglasses stuck on top of red hair. Weasley had sent him to stay had sent him to stay with his little girl. Now he knew he was getting a second chance.

"Weasley" and then he held out his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

This had to be ok, so he'd teased her mercilessly through out school and his dad had nearly gotten her killed and judging by the smile that didn't quite reach her eyes she remembered all of it.

" I know you might hate me…and I still remember your hexing ability, but I just need.. Please don't turn me in…"

Ok, she was looking at him again- like he was off his rocker.

"I realize, I mean I hope you understand, I have no place left and…."

"Malfoy" She had turned to look directly at him, bags under her eyes and coffee cup in hand " I want to go home, I am tired, cranky, and have less then twelve hours left before I go back. I don't really care. Get your stuff and follow me to the car- now."

The reluctant blond grabbed his suitcase and followed quickly behind the redhead, his nerves still twitching. When they stepped onto the covered walkway over to the garage, he saw the sun. No, he wasn't in England anymore. He could do this; he was the Malfoy heir, thousands of years of good breeding and magical ability. He could do this. Really, he'd faced worse. It would be OK. Really.

Yup, off his rocker. Her dad sent her a crazy man. No, she didn't like him, but she could be civil, really, ok, maybe not. Maybe he'd only stay for a week or two. That would be ok. She could do that.

Hmmm, maybe they had some extra shifts available at the hospital, if she was never home she wouldn't be tempted to stun him and hide him in a cupboard.

Looking back at the straggling blond, she had to slow down. As much as she wanted to be pissed at him, treat him the same way he had treated her for years, grind him under her heel and smirk in his face, she couldn't do it. Damned compassionate nature. He looked so lost.

She took a minute to look at the tall man, really look at him. Like she would any patient who walked in. The slight tan was new. He was wearing older clothes and only had one small suitcase. He was lean, with a slightly scruffy look. And he had rough hands; the Malfoy she knew and hated from school would have never allowed his hands to become rough. Mentally cursing whatever Weasley gene made them always take in strays, she could admit to herself, grudgingly, that she would be nice.

Listening for the familiar chirp of her car. She maneuvered him into the passenger seat of her little Volkswagen and headed west. She had just moved into a brand new house on a golf course. It lacked the coziness of the burrow, but she liked walking in and feeling the openness, the newness of it all. She loved feeling like she had come up in the world. It gave her confidence.

She walked in, looked squarely at Draco and said "goodnight."

He had no idea what her name was.


	3. Chapter 3

His hostess was sleeping. He was in a strange town. In a strange house, and he had no idea where to even start. He started by checking out the kitchen. That seemed somewhat less invasive that exploring the rest of her house, besides, he was hungry. The kitchen yielded enough to make a decent sandwich as well as some wonderful, straight from home, tea. Feeling somewhat better about his situation, he was fed after all. He began to explore the rest of the house. There had to be a telly somewhere. He had gotten used to the muggle world while he was on his own, but he still had a hard time understanding why someone would voluntarily live in it.

There were family pictures everywhere; her surrounded by all those red heads. He could remember the twins well enough. They certainly left their mark on Hogwarts- scorch marks if you listened to Filch. The Weasel King was off with Potter these days, still trying to do away with You-Know-Who. Hopefully they got around to it soon. Two other brothers were in the picture, One dressed almost completely in leather, the other was badly scarred but holding a beautiful blond woman who looked familiar. Potter and Granger were there too. The still frizzy haired Granger was standing next to the Weasel King and Potter had his grubby paws on his sleeping hostess. Looking for the entire world like a happy family. It reminded him of the portraits his father always had done; there were so much more formal then this one. The last one taken of his whole family was before his father was put in Azkaban; he was still a young boy. They had their perfect robes and flawless hair, standing proudly with him.

Her name was Ginny. He remembered it now. Blaise had had a crush on the girl for awhile in sixth year. Pretty and powerful was always attractive to a Sytherin. He had been seeing Pansy Parkinson and had expected to marry her eventually so he'd not paid much attention to the littlest Weasley. He had so many other problems that year; she was barely a blip on the radar.

Finding the TV, he settled down into a very cozy couch and flipped on the telly. Feeling warm and well fed, it didn't take long before he drifted of into a deep sleep. Since the death eaters had started looking for him again, he hadn't been sleeping.

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Returning to consciousness was never fun, she'd never been one to wake up cheerfully—they had Ron for that. She couldn't help but smile as she remembered waking up with her brothers. Ron was always so ungodly cheerful in the mornings- even Harry and Hermione agreed. It drove her and the twins nutters. It was unnatural, really. Remembering she had company, she pulled on some clothes and headed down to make some coffee.

Harry would have a fit when if he found out Draco was living with her. Ron would turn bright red and get all twitchy and loud. Ok, so she would need some way to disguise him when they came for a visit. Polyjuice would work, she would just need to find some hair and brew it. She had a small potions lab in the basement. It was do-able. Her brain was going full speed as she headed into the kitchen.

Her house was quiet. Not really a good thing considering she had company and had just abandoned him in the living room. He'd apparently had lunch, and some tea, judging by the dishes left in the sink. Listening some more, she heard the TV in the other room. Walking in she found her grade school bully, the obnoxious git, sleeping soundly on her couch. Looking closely, she realized something else. Not only was the boy who make looking perfect an art form in school snoring, he was drooling. So much for hating him on sight, she'd have to listen to her dad and keep him safe. Any one who drooled had to be human.

Draco woke up slowly, stretching out and then looking up, only to realize that a pair of amused brown eyes were staring at him.

"You drool" she announced, barely controlling her giggle.

"Do not" he said with as imperious a tone as he could come up with, eyebrow raised in what he hoped looked like a truly 'superior' expression "Malfoy's do not drool—ever." It was really hard to keep up the 'bored and better then you' expression when you could feel said drool hardening in the corners of your mouth.

"Really, cause I could swear that's dried _drool_ clinging to your chin." She said it with such a sarcastic tone and such a prefect smirk that it made one wonder.

"Come on Draco, let's go grab some stuff at the grocers and talk in the car. There's coffee made in the kitchen if you'd like some."

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Those first few days had been challenging, but they had settled into somewhat of a routine. They stayed out of each other's way for the most part. She had helped him buy some appropriate clothing and helped him find a nice job in a small potions and apothecary shop.

Slowly they started actually talking to each other and eventually it turned into actually cooking dinner together when they were both home and debating anything, loudly, over wine. She had introduced him to the wonders of the western United States. Super-sized grocery stores and drive- through coffee houses. He learned how to adapt. He was a Malfoy, his parents had given their lives to make sure he survived, he'd be damned if he gave up just because he got lost every time he went into the grocery store.

Which is why it seemed odd when she asked him to make a batch of polyjuice potion for himself.

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As much as she adored her brother and his two best friends and normally enjoyed their infrequent visits, no was not really the best time. They had no idea about the underground. Really, they did have quite a lot on their plates these days and they were still looking for the last horcrux. That damn locket was still with who ever R.A.B was. Frankly, she was ok with keeping this secret. They had kept several from her over the years- it was just a minor white lie, nothing to worry about. They just though she went through roommates rather quickly. Just because she was hiding Draco Malfoy (who Ron still hated with a passion not to be rivaled), it wasn't something to be worried about. Right?

She had borrowed some hair from a friend at work ho had helped in the past when she had needed to place a few extra people or some extra help with her 'side projects' as he called it. Now she just needed to tell Draco. He would understand, eventually. He still had that proud bearing and had regained some of his arrogance working in a field that he so clearly excelled in.

"Well, it's either the polyjuice or a muggle hotel—he'll understand" She mumbled to herself as she pulled into the house. Yup, she was going to be glad she'd bought home some wine.

Apparently, the Griffindor Gits were coming for a visit, and in order to stay in what had become his nice comfortable bedroom, he got to drink a foul tasting potion and pretend to be a gay man so that Ginny's brother didn't kill him. (He had no doubt Ron would kill him on sight, just because, and Potter would help him hide the body.) He could torment the Weasel King and Potter (within reason she amended- how was that fair), but there would be no use of the word 'mudblood' and he would have to pretend to be gay. How the fuck was this fair, he griped the entire time they were making the potion.


	4. Chapter 4

She had said, specifically, that he could torment Ron 'within reason' and as long as he never figured out who he was under the polyjuice. She never mentioned that he wasn't allowed to hit on the Weasel King and his cohort while wearing a horrendous hawaiian shirt. Playing a flaming gay man could be very entertaining. He had smirked at Ginny the first time he had hit on Ron and she had actually laughed back, shaking her head.

"You are such a prat" was mouthed in his general direction "Ron, Harry, Mione—This is my new flat mate—Lennie. Don't mind him, he just went through a nasty breakup. He's just looking for a rebound man." That last was said with an evil look back at him.

The evening went from there. Every little comment turned Weasels face a brighter shade of red. Even Potter and Granger were laughing at him. He had never had so much fun and as an added bonus, Weasel King and Potter avoided him whenever they didn't have a girl with them. It was enough to make a Malfoy giggle like a girl.

They stayed for almost a week, giving him insight into the group dynamics of the Griffindor Gits and company. They were so very 'un-Slytherin'; almost everything was fodder for discussion. There was no calculation, no façade. Everything was said honestly and without forethought. Apparently the weasel had actually married the frizz headed object of his desires while Potter had a thing for his flat mate. There was a level of comfort between the four of them that was almost heartening to watch. No he was getting sappy.

He was almost sad when they finally left, supposably they had sound all they were looking for, he overheard something about his aunt and her husband and a locket, but the conversation ended when he walked in the room and was never mentioned again. There were extra big hugs all around and wishes of good luck. He was almost sad to see them go, if nothing else it had been so very entertaining. It was nice to be back in his skin again.

Strolling back into the house after work, he was surprised to hear someone slamming around in the kitchen. Apparently when Weasleys got stressed they cleaned and reorganized their kitchens.

"So, Cleaning for any particular reason, or just wanted to have a go at the mouse under the sink." Judging by the shriek and the sound of a head meeting wood, mice were not on the favored animal list.

"I just miss my brother- get over it. You should be happy to be back as your albino self ferret boy"

"I have to wonder" the white haired boy muttered, choosing to ignore the slander, "Why you moved so far away from everyone when you are so obviously close- why leave the country?" He glanced up at her. He could wait her out, and least offensive would probably work best with her. He could bide his temper for that.

The red head looked at him, making him suddenly belt up. He really wanted the answer to this one. He did respect her, and he honestly wanted to know what would make a person who had a loving family and protective friends disappear. From what he had heard, especially while he had been with Remus and Tonks waiting his escape, was that no one knew where the youngest Weasley was. She had, at least for most of her friends and family, just vanished one day.

She just looked at him for awhile, Draco knew he was being sized up. This made him more interested- he knew this would be good. When she broke away and headed over to the small wine collection she kept in the pantry, he knew he would be getting the entire juicy story.

She looked almost resigned when she started talking. "Do you remember your second year, the whole mess with the heir of Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets?" Her eyes took on a distant look as she continued. "After that mess, even the good guys didn't want to trust me and to top it off it appears that Tom… Voldemort and I might have some type of connection."

She looked back towards him "add to that being Harry Potter's girlfriend and I become an instant target. I was putting my whole family and all my friends in danger just because they knew me. When I was offered a chance to leave the country, hide, start over and do something I always wanted to do, I

Jumped on it."

She smiled at him, a real smile this time " I always wanted to be a doctor, I just never thought I'd be able to go. I got to protect everyone and do something I always wanted. It became a win-win."

Draco had a rather incredulous expression on his face. A cross between shocked and surprised. "Well" he slowly drawled "you sound like you should have been in Slytherin." He shook his head slowly. "A Weasley in Slytherin- my dad would have had a cow."

The smirk she gave him almost cemented her a place as an honorary snake. "The hat offered, I just wanted to stay with my brothers."

That pretty much set the surprised look on his face.

"Of course, you do know it made the same offer to Harry, didn't you?"

It was really funny to see Draco. The boy who spent the better part of six years at Hogwarts looking perfect and together, who had teased others for not being able to perfectly handle a situation, who had tormented and teased… OK, she was getting carried away. But it was really funny to see him gaping and gasping like a fish out of water. She laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

The way the week started, it was no surprise that it kept going downhill. Monday the next door neighbor dropped off her 3 year old because she had an emergency and Ginny would be home soon- not. Apparently three-year olds had issues with new people and after an hour of incessant screaming they finally agreed to a truce. He would provide cookies and milk and she would do whatever she pleased

By the time Ginny returned home from work, after a very trying shift at work, her house looked like a tornado had hit it. She hadn't seen damage this bad since living with Forge and Gred. Granted the blond sleeping on the couch with the toddler was adorable. Ok, it was beyond adorable. That Train of thought would have to stop, it was Malfoy, demeanor of Weasleys everywhere. Besides it was not like he'd ever find someone like her even remotely attractive.

Tuesday had him standing in the snow in negative temperatures as his car was refusing to start. With his lovely, yes, she was lovely even if she was a Weasley, sleeping soundly at home. After a long involved bus ride and a quarter mile hike home while in a severely underdressed state he was almost ready to call it quits. He knew he should have spent the rest of the week in bed.

Which is why getting hit by the car on Wednesday really shouldn't have been that big of a surprise, waking up in the Muggle hospital surely was. It was, as his flat mate assured him, not very serious all in all. And he had been lucky enough to come in on her shift so she could just bring him home. Now even someone had spent most of his life believing in the superiority of wizards had to admit muggles had some damn fine pain killers – he felt wonderful and apparently, he had no recollection of it, was had been telling everyone how amazing he felt. He could remember several blush worthy moments talking to Ginny about how she was an angel in green then proceeded to wax poetic about her hair. It must have been something because she was still eyeing him rather suspiciously.

Friday was really the topper though. He was feeling better or at least well enough. He had spent Thursday with his own personal physician fussing over him and between the potions and the pain killers, he had a pretty tame day of laying glazed over in front of the TV. He had to admit that it was nice being fussed over by someone who didn't have to do it. Pansy, for all her fussing glory was only acting along. Ginny had to actually give a damn about him- if she didn't she could have just left him alone. Ginny had headed back to work for a few hours for rounds and to pick up some take out. He knew even as his feet were heading towards the door, that he shouldn't open it.

Well damn, it was the boy who lived.

Who looked rather like a goldfish.

"Shite" was about the only thing he could think of to say. Granted boy wonder looked pretty speechless as well, so maybe it would be all right. Thankfully he heard Gin's car rounding the corner onto their street, otherwise who knew what could happen.

"Malfoy, what the fuck are you doing here—Jesus fucking Christ—Of all the places…" At this point the boy who lived began to babble and the red head he lived with walked rather gingerly up the steps.

"So, Harry, How are you?" Ginny had to wince as Harry turned a set of incredulous wide green eyes on to her. Ok, so maybe the casual approach hadn't been the best solution. "You remember Draco?" Definitely not the best solution. She did notice Draco beating a hasty retreat indoors; good to know medications hadn't dulled his common sense.

Draco had headed directly back to the safety of his room. He had never heard his seen his roommate as pissed off as Potter had managed to get her in just minutes. Potter sounded like he might just boil over. When he woke up the next morning Potter was still there, but then again he was still there as well.

"Malfoy, you may be living with Gin, but I don't have to like it. I won't rat you out—even to Ron. But if you hurt her I will make sure that every Death Eater knows where you are."

"I won't hurt her." Draco took a deep breath; maybe this wasn't the time for a patented Malfoy snarky remark. "She's one of the few people who have given me a chance and if I hurt her I would disappoint the only others."

Harry looked at the blond boy, he may not like him much, but he knew now what kind of pressure Draco had been put under in sixth year. Of course he also knew now that Draco had never been given a dark mark and had never been able to kill anyone, hell, he hadn't been able to hurt anyone without sobbing in the bathroom. It didn't make this any easier.

Ginny had always been his safety net, even now that they were no longer together; he didn't want her hurt for anything. Once they had started seeing each other for themselves, the relationship had been over for good. He couldn't be her hero forever and she had no desire to turn into her mother. Truthfully, at least for him, one of the things he found so attractive about Ginny was her family. What he wouldn't give to be part of it. It had become clear, last time he was at the Burrow, that no matter what his status with Ginny hew would always be a part of the family—no matter what.

Draco watched his former nemesis through steely gray eyes. Potter having a problem with him being here could cause some major problems to his life. He really enjoyed living with Ginny; he could move out- it wouldn't be a huge problem. He had a job and transportation, he could do it on his own But dammit, he liked coming home to someone. He liked comparing days at over a bottle of wine. He even liked it when she came home after an absolutely awful day, near tears and covered in stuff he really didn't want to identify; he would get to play the nice guy and comfort her. They would snuggle on the couch and he got to be the person someone else turned to for help. That was an amazing feeling.

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The day after Potter left was a day for rude awakenings. They went out to dinner. Nothing unusual, but they had a marvelous time. Talking about bad dates, bad kisses and bad 'times'. He had managed to make it this far without picturing his flat mate naked, but damn, now he couldn't stop. He knew she lad long legs, but now he could see her walking without picturing those legs wrapped around him. He now had visions of long red hair falling around him like a curtain. So not good.

Ginny, for her part, was having issues; he was pretty cute, not handsome in the conventional sense, but not bad on the eyes at all. Seeing him sleeping curled up with the toddler had been a nail in the coffin. This evening was the final straw. She knew he was funny and smart, she had started to enjoy herself with him ages ago. It had amazed her the first time she had come home after losing a patient to have him just hold her until she felt better. Too bad he wasn't like this at Hogwarts; she would have been all over him. It was more of a date then she'd had in ages—apparently she did need to get out more often because she was beginning to fantasize about work roughened hands running all over her body.


	6. Chapter 6

Draco stood before the mirror feeling really and truly thankful it was not magical. There was nothing like a Muggle mirror to show you the plain, unvarnished truth. He could remember the mirror is his dorm at Hogwarts, it had always told him that he had aquiline and aristocratic features. Apparently the mirror's idea of aristocratic meant pointy and his 'regal bearing' really meant that his was on the skinny side. Of course, maybe fresh out of the shower was not the best place to examine his hair- it did look rather like dandelion fluff at the moment, but he could get that feature under control. Possibly.

He had to admit his whole life post- Hogwarts had been rather a wake up call. The things that his parents had valued so highly were meaningless in the real world. Now that he was without the Malfoy name and influence he had nothing. He hadn't stayed in school to get his NEWT's, he had managed- with Ginny's help, to get the wizards equivalent of a GED and she had helped him take some more classes in potions and apothecary so he was at least making some money.

And here was the littlest Weasel; a person his father had always said would never amount to anything. A person he had believed would never accomplish anything other then, perhaps, having more children then her mother. He had taunted her and her brother through school about her poverty. Although, granted he had backed off of her after the bat boogey incident, he was by no means pleasant to her. And here he was. He was desperately attracted to her; he had loved living with her. She had become a friend in the truest sense of the word; he couldn't imagine her not being there. To bad he wasn't good enough even to ask her out to dinner.

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Ginny stood in the shower room at her gym, staring into the slightly foggy mirror and stealing glances at the many better-endowed and classier women primping. Sometime she still felt like the littlest weasel, especially when faced with the likes of Draco Malfoy in her living room. Especially Draco curled up on her couch with a toddler. Well, she'd come a long way since then…. Really. Maybe if he was interested, maybe she wasn't the only one with a crush, maybe….

Snort

Yeah, right.

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It had been just over a week since Harry had been behind the door when he opening the door on Harry and the rest of the trio again, surprising the hell out of him. They were frantic about finding Ginny, Ron practically ran him over checking the house. Hermione had the common sense to at least ask Draco where she was. Judging by the lack of surprise on Hermione and Ron's faces, they must have been warned before showing up about his new residence. That didn't stop the Weasel King from throwing what he considered evil and threatening glances towards Draco at every opportunity.

Draco's confusion must have been showing on his face, because Harry finally- after assuring Ginny would apparate home at the earliest moment, finally explained what the big deal was. Apparently the Death Eaters as well as some vigilante do-gooders were coming for Ginny; someone had seen her and ratted her out.

Harry just shook his head at Draco, his eyes following Ron as he paced in the living room. "Apparently some people believe that Ginny might be able to resurrect Voldemort if he ever dies thanks to her first year." He rolled his eyes for emphasis. "The Death Eaters want her just in case to protect their lord and these other idiots think they are protecting the rest of us from the dark lord being reborn when I do actually kill him - I'm not sure which group is more nuts."

Just as Ginny apparated into the living room, nearly landing right on top of her brother, Hermione spotted some suspicious black robes heading up the walk way next doors. Ginny and Draco both instantly grabbed their wands, almost beating the trio to the door. There was no way Draco was going to let those freaks get their paws on their friends. Amanda and her little girl had become fast friends with both Draco and Ginny despite being Muggles. They could not allow them to be hurt just because they happened to live next door to two wanted wizarding folk.

Ron shoved them both back. "Get the hell out of here Ginny and don't tell anyone where you are, we'll take care of them. I promise."

Draco ran quickly to grab a few things, Ginny did the same. They could hear the spells going off next door and they were frantically packing. It was quickly apparent that bath had some practice in the emergency packing department.

Ginny quickly side apparated them into her car she had left at the gym and they took off. She quickly waved her wand over her purse, showing Draco how to charm his drivers license and ATM cards to be untraceable and then quickly changed the plates and color of the car. Driving quickly, the got on the freeway and headed west.

Draco finally fell asleep when they reached Seattle, but Ginny turned south and drove until they reached Oregon before finally pulling off. Still shaken, they both wordlessly ate a quick dinner and tumbled into sleep in the motels hard bed. The next morning they headed south again, grabbing fast food and stopping at rest areas. It was late at night again before they stopped at motel in another snowy area and trudged themselves in to the entrance. Draco was completely disoriented, he knew they were in California but this was about as far away from sunny beaches as you could get.

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It took a few weeks to get settled again. Apparently they had landed in Tahoe. It took time to find a house. Ginny explained that they needed to actually buy one so that the wards could be tuned into them specifically. Draco was amazed yet again by what Ginny knew about all this stuff, but it gave him a real sense of pride when he was able to add some new wards on top based on the stuff his parents had taught him. They managed to find work in a small local hospital, small enough to be desperate and not raise too many questions. After the incident with Amanda, they were both gun shy about making new friends. So they spent most of their time together. Ginny showed him how to ski, which was brilliant, almost like flying and he was teaching his roommate how to cook. Well, how not to burn water.

Which could be why it seemed like a good idea to go celebrate getting settled by going out to the local pub and dancing, maybe even doing some gambling. South Lake Tahoe was so close, they could get a couple of nice hotel rooms so they wouldn't have to drive home drunk. Have a leisurely brunch before heading back. Relax.

Draco was a little excited about hitting a Nevada gambling establishment. It wasn't Las Vegas, but all of the bright lights were certainly intriguing for someone not raised with them. He could tell Ginny was pretty intrigued too. He could imagine it was a pretty far step away from the way momma Weasley raised her children. Although from what he could remember, he would be willing to bet her dad would be in raptures as they drew closer.

In hindsight, Draco had to admit drinking that much with someone he had fallen hopelessly head over heels in love with was probably not the best idea. When he woke up the next morning, curled up with a dead sexy red head and unable to remember a thing, life did not seem quite so good. Fortunately they had made their peace with the whole sleeping together thing before they found out about the rest of their evening. Apparently, the motel provided free brunch to people the morning after they got married.

He'd always thought he'd remember his own wedding. Good thing his new in-laws, after some persuasion from his new wife (his eardrums were never going to be the same), were allowing them to do a binding ceremony in the yard at the Burrow. They had been happily married for almost five years now, his beautiful wife was just starting to show with their first child and they were finally able to return to England. It wasn't the life he thought he'd ever have, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

**_Chapel rental $50, Rings $300… Knowing you get to spend the rest of your life with a sexy redhead, priceless._**


End file.
